Editorial: Economic treasures in our backyard

Just in case the beauty of our two national park areas isn’t enough to win your appreciation of these outdoor wonders this spring, the National Park Service last week issued its annual report on their economic impacts, and the numbers are impressive.

Released during National Park Week, the report estimated Channel Islands National Park generated $23.1 million in visitor spending last year, up more than 3 percent from 2016. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area visitors spent an estimated $38.3 million in 2017, slightly less than in 2016.

If nothing else, the numbers serve as a good reminder of the natural and economic treasures we have in our backyard. The Channel Islands can seem especially remote and out of mind, even though they are home to more than 2,000 plant and animal species, including two dozen found nowhere else in the world.

The Park Service said 383,687 people visited Channel Islands National Park last year. That’s a 12 percent increase from 2016. Many of those folks, however, only went to the visitor center at the Ventura Harbor. About 165,000 people actually went out to the islands — 14 percent more than in 2016 — Park Service data shows.

About 33 percent of Channel Islands visitor spending last year went to hotels, 19 percent to restaurants, 15 percent to gas and 10 percent to retail shops, a breakdown shows. Adding secondary economic effects, the park provided a $32.3 million boost to the local economy last year and supported 308 jobs, including 67 each in restaurants and hotels, 31 in recreation and 24 in retail.

Of course, the Park Service news releases, while touting the economic value of national parks across America, made no mention of the Trump administration’s proposal this year to cut its budget by 8 percent. Fortunately, the budget later passed by Congress actually increased it by 9 percent.

The administration does deserve credit for focusing on the national parks’ $11.6 billion maintenance backlog. But its latest idea on how to pay for that — with revenue from the development of oil, natural gas and other energy on public lands — has been panned by critics as “dubious, speculative and uncertain,” and we would tend to agree.

In the meantime, you can show your support for Channel Islands and the Santa Monica Mountains by visiting, volunteering in one of their many programs, and reminding our elected leaders that the parks are key to Ventura County’s coastal, mountain and recreational identity.

Read or Share this story: https://www.vcstar.com/story/opinion/editorials/2018/04/30/editorial-economic-treasures-our-backyard/567126002/

From The USA TODAY NETWORK

These sites are part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Their content is produced independently from our newsrooms.